Structural Protection
Fire Protection to Structural Steel and Upgrades to Concrete.
-
What staples can I use for PROMATECT®-250?
The Chisel Point Staples and guns required to fix PROMATECT®-250 boards are manufactured by Paslode. The specification for the staples is: 35mm long x 12mm wide x 1.6mm thick staples for boards up to 15mm thick (product code: 054522), and 50mm long x 12mm wide x 1.6mm thick staples for boards above 15mm thick (product code: 012302). The gun used for
-
What staples can I use with PROMATECT®-XW?
The Chisel Point Staples and guns required to fix PROMATECT®-XW boards are manufactured by Paslode. The specification for the staples is: 35mm long x 12mm wide x 1.6mm thick staples (product code: 054522). The gun used for this staple size is the Paslode IM200 (product code: 900078). Some companies who stock the Paslode products are: Sitebox Ltd - 0
-
How do I repair Cafco MANDOLITE® CP2 which has been used to protect steel locally damaged?
Cafco MANDOLITE ® CP2 Repair Procedures Cafco MANDOLITE® CP2 was a spray applied, premix cementitious spray based on vermiculite and portland cement for internal use. It was typically used for Structural Steel protection and upgrade of reinforced concrete. The product was discontinued in 2024 and is no longer available, even in small quantities, to
-
How do I fire protect a wind post?
Promat PROMATECT®-250 can be used for protection to wind posts and for maintaining compartmentation across the lines of the wind posts, for fire periods of 60, 90 or 120 minutes. Further detailed information can be found in our Technical Data Sheet, available for download from the Promat website: Windpost technical datasheet
-
Which board should I use to provide 60 minutes fire protection?
A board in itself has no inherent fire resistance value, only a reaction to fire classification in accordance with EN13501-1, noting that all of Promat's calcium silicate passive fire protection boards achieve the highest rating of A1 non-combustible. It's only when a board is incorporated into a tested system that the system can be given a resistan
-
How do I upgrade the fire performance of the existing concrete structure of a building I am refurbishing for change of use?
Promat PROMATECT®-H , is a thin lightweight board product that can used to upgrade the fire performance of concrete structures. Promat PROMATECT®-H can be fixed directly to concrete walls, beams, columns and soffits to upgrade the fire performance to up to 240 minutes. For more details please contact Technical Services. Email: technical@promat.co.
-
I have new steelwork and don’t have much clearance for the fire protection, what options are there?
Promat PROMATECT®-250 is a thin lightweight board product which can be used for this application to provide up to 120 minutes fire protection to steel. A single layer of 15mm PROMATECT®-250 can provide 60 minutes fire resistance to most steel sizes (depending on the steel section factor and limiting steel temperature). It can be installed as a singl
-
I have a car park below my building and need to improve the thermal performance of the floor, what can I do?
Promat TLFR Board® is a composite panel comprising of a non-combustible facing board bonded to non-combustible stone wool insulation. It is installed on the underside of concrete floors to improve the thermal performance. It is possible to achieve a U-Value of 0.20 W/m2K using standard product and stainless steel fixings.
-
How do I provide compartmentation protection to a steel that sits on a compartment line?
If it is required to provide fire insulation across a beam or column in order to maintain compartmentation (maintaining insulation to an average temperature rise of 140°C, maximum temperature rise of 180°C over ambient on the non-fire side), the following minimum board thicknesses on each side of the beam or column must be used: PROMATECT®-XW : 15mm
-
Do Promat supply and apply intumescent paint in the UK?
No, we do not supply or apply intumescent paint in the UK. We only offer board encasement solutions for structural steelworks which are capable to maintain fire compartmentation and providing up to 240 minutes of fire protection.
-
How do I know what thickness of PROMATECT®-H should I use to upgrade a existing concrete slab?
PROMATECT®-H comes in thicknesses of 12mm and 25mm. The thickness required to upgrade an existing concrete slab is determined by the design code of practice EN 1992-1-2- Eurocode 2 or BS 8110-2:1985 and is based on the overall depth of the concrete and cover to reinforcement. A structural engineer will generally use information in the standard site
-
How can I provide better thermal performance through structural steelwork which is protected using a board system?
When considering the thermal performance of encased structural steelwork, it's often the case that the steelwork itself is a significant contributor to thermal bridging through the overall construction. Promat recommend providing a boarded encasement system using one of our three fire protection boards suitable for use in this application: PROMATECT
-
How can I calculate the A/V value of a Cellular Beam?
In order to calculate the section factor (A/V) of a cellular beam section, the ‘I’ beam should be split into two sections: ‘T’ shape above the web opening and ‘T’ shape below the web opening. This allows for the section factor of the top and bottom half of the cellular beam to be calculated separately. The below diagram shows the required dimensions
-
Can I use Intumescent Paint to protect the structural steelwork supporting your PROMATECT®-250 Mezzanine Floor system?
Our recommendation for the structural steel beams supporting the mezzanine floor would be to use boarded protection, as per the details within our Technical Data Sheet TDS038 30 & 60 minute & TDS039 90 & 120 minute PROMATECT®-250 steel joisted mezzanine floor. Intumescent Paint does not provide full insulation protection therefore this e
-
Can I protect steelwork with Promat boards in a permanently exposed environment?
Promat structural steel fire protection boards are not designed to be left permanently exposed to the environment. Promat offers two structural steel board solutions, Promatect®-XW for up to 60 minutes fire performance and Vermiculux®-S for up to 240 minutes, which can be left exposed for up to 6 months during the construction phase, subject to th
-
What is the expected service life of PROMAT Promatect®-H?
Etex Building Performance Limited's passive fire protection products and associated components, when supplied by our Company and designed and installed in accordance with the conditions and procedures in the Promat Fire Protection Handbook, Promat technical literature, specification documents, associated CAD drawings and any specific technical recom
-
What is the expected service life of PROMAT Promatect®-250?
Etex Building Performance Limited's passive fire protection products and associated components, when supplied by our Company and designed and installed in accordance with the conditions and procedures in the Promat Fire Protection Handbook, Promat technical literature, specification documents, associated CAD drawings and any specific technical recom
-
What is the expected service life of PROMAT Promatect®-XW?
Etex Building Performance Limited's passive fire protection products and associated components, when supplied by our Company and designed and installed in accordance with the conditions and procedures in the Promat Fire Protection Handbook, Promat technical literature, specification documents, associated CAD drawings and any specific technical recom
-
What is the expected service life of PROMAT Vermiculux®-S?
Etex Building Performance Limited's passive fire protection products and associated components, when supplied by our Company and designed and installed in accordance with the conditions and procedures in the Promat Fire Protection Handbook, Promat technical literature, specification documents, associated CAD drawings and any specific technical recom
-
What is the expected service life of PROMAT TLFR Board®?
Etex Building Performance Limited's passive fire protection products and associated components, when supplied by our Company and designed and installed in accordance with the conditions and procedures in the Promat Fire Protection Handbook, Promat technical literature, specification documents, associated CAD drawings and any specific technical recom
-
Can you use protection board encasements around steelwork when there is bracketry fixed directly to the columns and/or beams?
Our recommended solution for this situation would be to ensure that where any bracketry is connected to the structural steel, these locations should coincide with the board joints for the steelwork encasements. This will allow the encasement boards to be notched around the ties with the smallest possible gaps between the ties and the boards – betwe
-
What is the section factor of a steelwork profile and how can I find it or calculate it?
Steelwork Section Factor, definition. The section factor for a given steel profile is a measure of the heat sink capacity it provides under fire attack conditions and is used to select the appropriate thickness of passive fire protection system being applied to the steel. A steelwork section factor has more than one standard notation that's commonly
-
Can I use Supalux® for structural steelwork protection?
Although Supalux® is a highly versatile fire protection board, it can't be used in steelwork protection applications. For our full range of structural steelwork protection boards/systems, visit our website and look at the published information on Promatect®-XW for up to 60 minutes protection, Promatect®-250 for up to 120 minutes protection, or Vermi
-
Can I apply Promat boards over existing intumescent paint for structural steelwork protection?
Regardless of the age or condition of any existing intumescent paint protection applied to structural steelwork, it is possible to apply a boarded encasement system around the steelwork without any detrimental effects on the performance of the boarded system. The steelwork section factor will still need to be evaluated in the same manner as would b
-
Would VERMICULUX®-S be a good replacement for over-boarding existing beams where there is badly damaged Cafco MANDOLITE® CP2 which has been withdrawn from the Promat product range?
VERMICULUX®-S would be a good choice for 120 minutes protection to beams that have been previously protected with Cafco MANDOLITE® CP2 which has been withdrawn from the Promat product range. However, before you start the install it is important that all the damaged and loose material is removed, this would also include the existing spray to the und
-
How do I protect steel column base plates?
It is possible to provide an encasement to steel column base plates, however sometimes this is not always required. On several projects the architects/contractors have specified a concrete curb at the base of the columns to protect the base plate, and one of our encasement boards can then be used on the column sat on the concrete curb. Often there i